APOLLO RISING (The Apollo Saga, Book 1) (5 page)

Probing further, the third photo (taken recently, he concluded), showed the same two women, and this time, Tyler was able to positively identify the younger one as the woman he had woken up next to that morning. He picked up the frame, admiring her enchanting smile, and felt instantaneously disappointed that he had somehow managed to not garner the same result from her. He would have to work on his charm.

He studied the photo once more before setting it back down, his eyes shifting back to the older woman. “And I’d be willing to bet my good leg, that’s Grandma.”

His wager was suspended by a voice, “Find something interesting?”

Startled, Tyler twisted around to find his caretaker had returned; fully dressed and carrying a handful of garments.

“Uh, yeah! I was just, you know, looking at your photos here.” His fingers fumbled over the frames as he knocked one down and tried to right it.

“You’re snooping,” she corrected him, setting the clothes on the sofa.

“No,” he argued, “I didn’t. I mean, I wasn’t.” He realized he wasn’t winning any points by quarreling, and quickly conceded. “Okay,” he admitted, “so maybe I was.”

She ignored him.

“Here, I found some old clothes in the closet. They were my Grandfather’s so they’re probably not your style, but at least you’ll have something to wear until we can figure how to get you out of here.” She unfolded a pair of worn-out Dungarees and a tattered flannel, and held them against her petite frame. “These look like they’ll fit you, right?”

Tyler nodded his head, although deep down he hoped she had brought another choice.

“And you’ll need these, too” she added, tossing him a pair of bright red long johns. “Get’s pretty cold up here.”

“Oh
c’mon!
” he cried, calling foul as he swallowed his words. Long underwear wasn’t quite the choice he’d had in mind.

An arch of her brow revealed her misgivings toward him and he quickly resolved to heed her recommendations; at this point, anything was warmer, and less embarrassing, than standing around wearing nothing but his pride wrapped in a blanket anyway. He forced himself to show a little humbleness, “Thanks.”

The woman paid no attention to his feigned appreciation and turned toward the kitchen, “You can change in the back,” she told him. “I’ll put some hot water on, I hope you like soup.”

Tyler couldn’t tell is she was trying to distance herself from the awkwardness of their morning, or if there was something more to the fact that he hadn’t seen her smile yet. She seemed warm and compassionate enough to care for him, and yet she was so mechanical in the way she did it. It hurt his ego to think a woman would only be nice to him out of obligation. The thought alone gave him chest pains. Determined to get to the bottom of it, he made one last attempt to get a rise out of her.

“As a matter of fact, I do, Miss Fancypants,” he called out, louder than necessary.

She paused mid-step and looked back, shooting him a half-grin over her shoulder as she laughed. “Allie,” she came back with. “My name is Allie.”

His casual smile slipped from his face after the bedroom door closed behind him and left him alone with his thoughts.
Oh, this is bad, man, this is very very bad. Nice to meet you, Allie, I sure hope I don’t turn into a fucking wolf and kill you.
Or worse, lead the Mob here so
they
can kill you!

He limped closer to the nearest window and rubbed an area of fog with a corner of the blanket. His heart sank.

“That’s a lot of snow,” he breathed, the magnitude of his imminent change weighing heavily on his mind. As he peered out the window, he could feel it – the wolf-side of him that crawled so close to the surface during the full moon – pacing back and forth in his mind, waiting for its chance to strike.

“Okay, get it together, Tyler,” he scolded, trying to calm the beast within. “You’ve still got time. The day ‘s not over…
yet.”
There were still a few hours before moonrise, still time to figure out a survivable escape; one he hoped would  lead to a more positive outcome than the last one he had made.

He turned his attention to the folded clothes that lay across his arm, realizing that, right now, what he really needed was to find out exactly where he was, who this Allie woman was and how to make a better impression on her before he left.

Tyler took his time getting dressed and then joined Allie in the kitchen. By now, the water over the fire had come to a boil, and the kettle and two mugs sat on the countertop. He took a seat on a stool and pulled it up to the counter. On the other side, Allie tore open two packages of powdered soup and emptied them into the mugs. Tyler tried to break the ice.

“So, where’s Grandma?”

Allie froze. “Grand
Moll
,” she said, emphasizing her words. “Her name was Molly. She’s dead.”

“Oh? I’m sorry. I, uh—” Tyler searched for the words to say.

“It’s okay,” she ensured; a hint of a smile flashed across her face as she made her way to the trash bin and back. Still, she made no eye contact. “Really. It’s fine. You didn’t know. How would you?”

Tyler smiled.

Allie turned her back to him, fetching the boiling water and returning.

“My Grand Moll passed away four years ago,” she confessed, filling the mugs.

He sighed, and pressed for more, “And she lived up
here
? Seems kinda far away from any conveniences. How far out are we, anyway?”

“Thirteen miles from the nearest neighbor,” Allie asserted, handing him a spoon. “A little over two-hundred from town.”

“Town? You mean Apollo City?”

She nodded.

“Why so far away?”

“You sure are full of questions,” she teased, stirring her soup.

“Just trying to get to know you,” he replied. “Especially since you say I’m stuck here.”

“Alright then,” getting comfortable across from him, “to answer your question, this isn’t exactly my Grand Molls place. She used to live in Apollo City. This is her second home. Well,
our
second home. It actually belongs to my whole family. Think of it like a retreat from the filth of the city, but instead of the beach, we’ve always preferred the woods.”

“So you’re from Apollo City?” he asked, excitedly.

She nodded, this time, smiling right at him.

“So why are you up here?”

“To visit my/your Grandma’s place” they both said simultaneously.

“I had a feeling you’d say that,” he laughed. “No, but seriously, we both know she’s not here, so why are you?”

She started to fidget. He watched as she stirred her spoon, pulled it up to her lips and blew to cool her soup. He waited, but she didn’t answer.

“I live in Apollo, too,” he added, gratuitously. “It’s not so bad.”

“You live there very long?” she asked, removing only her eyes from her spoonful of broth.

“No,” he confessed, sipping his own spoon. “Just moved there. You?”

“All my life.” Allie returned her spoon and began stirring again. “But nobody ever shot me before.”

Her eyes begged for an answer; something he wasn’t willing to give. He tried to divert the question he thought she was asking, “I guess you gotta get in with the right people. I dunno. I must’ve gotten off to a bad start. This is kind of a first for me.”

“Which part? Getting shot or getting hit by a car?”

They both broke into laughter.

“Both,” he finally rejoined. “And thank you, by the way. Not for hitting me, but for saving me. I have a feeling most people in Apollo would’ve just left me by the side of the road.”

“I’m not most people,” she smiled.

“No, you’re not.” It took him a moment to stop smiling, and another to realize his stare had lingered a little too long.

“Thank you,” her eyes shied away.

“
Any
way,” he tapped his hands on the counter and made weird noises with his lips to hide the fact that he felt deeply self-conscious. “So, tell me about the cabin.”

“Well,” she sighed, gazing beyond him, “there’s not much to tell. This place has been in the family for as far back as my family goes, I guess. I used to come here with my parents when I was little. They taught me how to hunt and survive on my own.”

She paused and smiled again.

“Those were good times,” she added. “I remember my first kill. It was a muskrat.” A sense of pride washed over her face.

Tyler glanced back and pointed to the photograph on the mantle. “Is that it?”

“Yeah,” she beamed. “And those are my parents. That’s my Grand Moll, too.”

They both sighed in unison.

“Anyway,” she continued, “Moll was a little girl here, and so was my mom, and me too. We came up here to get away, you know? You ever have a place like that?”

“Every place’s like that for me,” Tyler exhaled. “Seems like I’m always on vacation. Sometimes, I just wish I had a home to need an escape from.”

He instantly felt he had said too much and tapped his fingers on the counter again.

“Why’s that?” Allie finally inquired. It was the question he had been waiting to answer.

Sitting up straight, he puffed his chest. “I’m in band,” he said matter-of-factly.

Allie choked on her soup.

“What?! I am. We tour and shit, I’m not lying.”

“Okay.”

Tyler felt she was merely appeasing him. “Seriously. I am. We’re called The Wax. I know you’ve heard of us. We’re practically famous in Europe.”

Allie shook her head.

“Anyway,” he stuttered, “we just got into town. And then, well, a few days later I end up here, with you.”

“So you don’t have any family back in town who’ll be looking for you?”

Tyler thought this a strange question. Sometimes she seemed so sweet, and at others, he wasn’t certain she wasn’t Misery herself. “Why? You gonna kidnap me,” he joked.

Allie broke out into laughter again. “No, Rockstar. I was alluding to the fact that we may be here a few days.”

“A few
days?
” he stressed. “Like how many?”

“I don’t know. If the snow ever lets up, two, maybe three. Longer if the temperature drops. They don’t plow these roads up here, and there’s no way I’m taking them, even in my jeep.”

Tyler shifted in his seat and groaned heavily. Now he was the one fidgeting.

“You look pretty concerned for someone no one’ll miss. You sure no one’s back in town waiting for you?”

Tyler was panicking, visibly. He needed to get out of this conversation.

“Please,
”
he lied, “I’m in a band. I’ve already got three chicks back in Apollo. When I woke up this morning, I thought you were the fourth.”

She immediately grabbed her soup and stole his mug right out from under him. She made no fuss about her disgust with him as she poured out the rest of his meal and threw the cups in the sink. She walked away, returning a few beats later wearing a coat and a bag draped over her shoulder.

“I’ll be back,” she told him without expression. “You’ll be fine while I’m gone. I don’t think anything’s broken, and your leg ought to be fine if you stay off it. Whoever shot you wasn’t very good at it.”

“Where are you going?” Tyler looked outside, the snow was slowing up and he had a feeling she was planning to venture out.

“We’re going to need some real food,” she informed him. “Shotgun’s in the living room if you need it, not that a rock star like yourself would know how to use it anyway. It doesn’t have any strings.”

“Then what’s in
there
?” he interrupted.

“My bow.”

She slipped her feet inside a pair of old hiking boots beside the door and turned back to him, “Don’t worry about me.” Pointing above him, she asked, “See that?”

Tyler looked up. A bulb hung from the ceiling. Though it was off, it was the first he had noticed of any electricity in the cabin. “You want me to replace it?”

“No,” she chuckled. “The generator’s out. I couldn’t get it going last night. We’ve got enough firewood to last a few days, but if you want some modern comfort, go ahead and make yourself at home in that shed out back. Maybe you can even get it running by the time I return.”

Allie opened the door and the wind blew a snowdrift inside the threshold, and even though it was late morning, it seemed dark and damp outside. Tyler wasn’t familiar with these woods and he suddenly grew concerned for her safety. The worst this area normally had to offer were armed with teeth and claws, more or less, he reasoned. But the people chasing him had guns, and her bow and arrows were no match for them.

“You’re okay to go alone?”

Allie laughed, “I’ve hunted these woods since I was a little girl. Anything out there should be more worried about me than I am of them.” Those were the last words she said before she closed the door behind her.